The demand for new and improved electronic and electro-mechanical systems has placed increased pressure on the manufacturers of energy storing devices to develop battery technologies that provide for high energy generation in a low-volume package. Conventional battery systems, such as those that utilize lead acid for example, are often unsuitable for use in high-power, low-weight applications. Other known battery technologies may be considered too unstable or hazardous for use in consumer product applications.
A number of advanced battery technologies have recently been developed, such as metal hydride (e.g., Ni-MH), lithium-ion, and lithium polymer cell technologies, which would appear to provide the requisite level of energy production and safety margins for many commercial and consumer applications. Such advanced battery technologies, however, often exhibit characteristics that provide challenges for the manufacturers of advanced energy storage devices.
For example, such advanced power generating systems typically produce a significant amount of heat which, if not properly dissipated, can result in a thermal runaway condition and eventual destruction of the cells, as well as the system being powered by the cells. The thermal characteristics of an advanced battery cell must therefore be understood and appropriately considered when designing a battery system suitable for use in commercial and consumer devices and systems. A conventional approach of providing a heat transfer mechanism external to such a cell, for example, may be inadequate to effectively dissipate heat from internal portions of the cell. Such conventional approaches may also be too expensive or bulky in certain applications. The severity of consequences resulting from short-circuit and thermal run-away conditions increases significantly when advanced high-energy electrochemical cells are implicated.
Other characteristics of advanced battery technologies provide additional challenges for the designers of advanced energy storage devices. For example, certain advanced cell structures are subject to cyclical changes in volume as a consequence of variations in the state of charge of the cell. The total volume of such a cell may vary as much as five to six percent or more during charge and discharge cycling. Such repetitive changes in the physical size of a cell significantly complicates the mechanical housing design and the thermal management strategy. The electrochemical, thermal, and mechanical characteristics of an advanced battery cell must therefore be understood and appropriately considered when designing an energy storage system suitable for use in commercial and consumer devices and systems.
There is a need in the advanced battery manufacturing industry for a power generating system that exhibits high-energy output, and one that provides for safe and reliable use in a wide range of applications. There exists a further need for an effective thermal management approach that protects energy storage cells from thermal run-away resulting from a short-circuit condition. The present invention fulfills these and other needs.